CLAVERING RECORDER’S REPORT 2003-4

After a lull in the local history scene in Clavering for about a decade, there have been interesting developments in 2003-4. In the summer we set up the Clavering Local Centre under the umbrella of the Cambridge Board of Continuing Education at Madingley – any village can set up such a centre and Madingley will supply the tutors and learning materials. Our first course in the autumn was a one-term beginners' course in landscape history entitled 'Discovering your local landscape'. This was over-subscribed with 32 participants and a waiting list, and was much enjoyed. It included a field trip to Clavering Castle, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, under the guidance of Christopher Taylor, the noted landscape historian.

Quite coincidentally, Adrian Gascoyne of Essex County Council Heritage & Conservation group had approached us to suggest we start a conservation and study project on the castle. This has now been set up as 'Project Castle under the umbrella of the newly-formed Clavering Landscape History Group. We held a public meeting, and 50 people expressed interest. A committee has been formed and will apply to the Local Heritage Initiative for funds to investigate the site.

Other local history work is ongoing: the Recorder is putting on computer a transcription by Robert Wood of the Thurrocks estate 14th century accounts. Also computerizing the Nonconformist parish records, of which the burial records will be sent to the Family History Societies national burial index project. Plans are in hand to update the churchyard recording. Several history articles have been written for the parish magazine.

There are innumerable queries from family historians, often in Australia, answered freely, a two-way benefit since the researchers often given us information in return: an Australian lady gave new material about the church memorial commemorating Mary Wales, wife of Captain Cook's astronomer. Another Australian is computerizing the parish registers.

Publications include an article on the graffiti in Clavering church in the Saffron Walden Historical Journal by Bari Hooper. The third in my series of historical walking guides, entitled History Walks in Clavering was published in the spring. A large amount of historical material has been contributed by the Recorder to the new Clavering website: www.claveringonline.org.uk

In the village itself, there has the annual round of Easter art show, Bank Holiday fete,Bonfire Night party and innumerable jumble sales, fetes, dances, concerts, plays, etc. The parish magazine is sent to the ERO and contains all these details, so they are not repeated here. Wicken Bonhunt now shares the same vicar with Clavering, Langley and Arkesden. The Clavering Christian Centre has been completely refurbished in the former URC building, as an ecumenical church and community hall. Fund-raising is continuing to refurbish the parish church, to include toilet and kitchen facilities in the old vestry. A village website has been set up.Broadband Internet access is to be implemented soon.A new scheme of social housing has been agreed and will commence building in 2004 on a site next to the shop. The primary school is making good use of its extension opened a year or two ago. The village's most famous son, TV chef Jamie Oliver, has bought a derelict medieval farmhouse in Clavering, which is undergoing total renovation, a welcome preservation of a historic building.

Jacqueline Cooper Clavering Local History Recorder

Local history in Clavering in 2005 was dominated by the Clavering Castle Project, which was launched in the spring. Most of our initial effort went on organising an ambitious medieval re-enactment event on Saturday 16 July as part of National Archaeology Week. This event snowballed into a very large event, covering not only a 12^th century re-enactment by a group called Feudal Archers, but also many other attractions including falconry, medieval herbs, history tours of castle and church, magnetometer and theodolite demonstrations, archaeology for children, archery, Morris dancing and many other aspects.

The previous few days had been spent supporting a Medieval Week at Clavering School, at which CLHG members talked about history, taught finger braiding, helped make banners and took the children on a castle tour. The Medieval Event was run in parallel with a Flower Festival in Clavering Church on the same theme, and the weekend ended with a sung Compline service featuring period songs by the Manuden Singers. The entire event, which was blessed with bright sunshine and which was offered to the community completely free, attracted about 2000 people and proved to be a red-letter day in the annals of Clavering. It was co-ordinated by the Local History Recorder, assisted by a working group and supported by the ECC Historic Environment department.

With this excitement over, the Project Castle group were able to concentrate on the main object of the project – carry out geophysics and earthwork surveys of the Castle and its environs. In summer, the ECC archaeologists began with a training course in the use of the magnetometer, after which the group members worked on their own to survey the castle and adjoining field. The resulting geophysics diagram was excellent and showed indications of structures underneath the site. In the autumn the group then received training in earthwork survey techniques prior to doing a survey with their own Topcon level bought with the grant monies.

The other main activity on the history front was the third in a series of evening classes under the umbrella of the Clavering Local Centre, which is supported by the Board of Continuing Education at Madingley. The subject this time was ‘ East Anglia in the Middle Ages’ with the emphasis on timber-framed buildings and their social context. The class was well supported with over 30 people signing up. The tutor Leigh Alston also visited and provided an analysis of about 20 Clavering houses for local records.

As well as running the CHLG and the evening class, I continue to deal with an endless stream of family history enquiries, many of them generated by our village website which has a popular history section: www.claveringonline.org.uk

Jacqueline Cooper Clavering Local History Recorder 3.5.06

REPORT FROM CLAVERING RECORDER 2006

EILEEN LUDGATE: the first Local History Recorder of Clavering, Eileen Ludgate died at the age of 81 on 19 July 2006. Eileen pioneered the academic study of history in the two villages, culminating in the publication of two books, Clavering & Langley: the first thousand years (1996) and Clavering & Langley: 1783-1983 (1983). A former history teacher, she had lived in Clavering for almost 50 years. A former churchwarden and strong promoter of Christian Aid, she was instrumental in raising a large sum to save the important Baroque 17th century Barlee monuments in the church. Following an ERO exhibition in the village school in the early 1970s, she formed the Clavering & Langley Local History Group which met from 1976-94 for lectures, outings, workshops and local history exhibitions. Over 20 years she accumulated a large collection of research at the ERO and other repositories, interviewed elderly residents of the village, taking photographs, recording gravestones and many other activities. She made many new discoveries, for instance through bringing Adrian Gibson to look at the timber-framed houses of Clavering, it was discovered that The Bury manor house was a rare medieval aisled hall of national importance. Her material now forms the nucleus of the Clavering Local History Collection. She also served as Vice-chairman of the Essex Congress in 1982-3, and Chairman the following year. Both the Clavering Village Society and the Clavering Landscape History Group came about as a result of the foundations laid by the former Local History Group. Her contribution to the historical heritage of Clavering was outstanding.

ARCHAEOLOGY: the Local History Group has continued to work hard on its Lottery-funded project to survey Clavering Castle and its environs through geophysical and earthwork survey techniques. The Group also erected a new kissing gate giving better access to the part of the castle earthworks crossed by a public right-of-way. The Group won first prize in the East of England LHI Heritage Star Awards through one of its leading members, Rosemary Nash. Rosemary was also given a star-naming kit, and chose the name Claefre for the star, meaning clover, the early word on which the village name was based. Two working parties were also held during the year, to clear excess undergrowth from the castle site.Clavering School: as part of the Castle project, two members visited Clavering School at the end of the summer term and carried out a local history project with them.

LECTURES: Autumn evening class: a ten-week evening class was organised by the Clavering Local Centre, run by the Local History Recorder, and attended by 30 people. The subject was Place Names in the Landscape.Day school: early in the year, in the spring, a highly successful day school was organised, also by the Clavering Local Centre, at the village hall. This was on the subject of how to study timber-framed buildings, the tutor being Leigh Alston, and was well publicised and attended by over 70 people.

RESEARCH: the Recorder has been pursuing a number of research lines over the year, notably medieval history in connection with the Castle project. One particularly interesting subject was the Miracle of the Ring, a legend attached to Clavering and this research came about through an enquiry from an American academic, Douglas Salmon. A project of more recent history was a visit was made to Lincoln Record Office to research material on Miss ffytche, a notable resident of Clavering in the 1920s-30s who came from Lincs. A photographic record continues to be kept & ephemera collected.

Transcription: the Recorder completed the first typescript of two volumes of written transcription carried out by Robert Wood on the 14^th century compoti of Thurrocks & Pounces which are kept in the ERO. He had transcribed the compoti about 20 years ago but needs a typescript in order to publish the material and the Recorder is doing the typing for him.

CATALOGUING: following the launch of RUTH database in November, the cataloguing of the local collection has begun by the Recorder, and a number of Clavering items contributed to the ULHR website, covering village history, publications and website.Village website: a number of articles have been added to the local history section of the Clavering website www.claveringonline.org

ENQUIRIES: a large number of local history and family history enquiries were dealt with, many of them from Australia, and several visiting Australians shown round the village.

Jacqueline Cooper

Clavering Local History Recorder